


Questions and Answers

by keepitdreamin



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clintasha - Freeform, F/M, M/M, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Science Boyfriends, Science Bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-20 17:59:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3659760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keepitdreamin/pseuds/keepitdreamin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony and Natasha talk about love. Bruce thinks and leaves…or tries to. Science Bros/Boyfriends, Mild ClinTasha, Tony/Natasha friendship</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Questions

"Can I ask you something?"

Natasha looked up surprised at the not-even-sarcastic question coming from Tony Stark's mouth. "Yes…" she hesitated. She had known Tony long enough to be wary of any and all questions coming from the genius.

Tony looked down with a blush, embarrassed, playing absentmindedly with a pen. "Well… how did you know…" He bit his lip.

"How did I know… what, Tony?" Natasha asked calmly.

Tony ran a hand through his tousled hair and sighed. "HowdidyouknowthatyouwereinlovewithClint?" he pushed out with one breath.

It took Natasha a second to process Tony's rushed sentence, and, when she finally understood, it was her turn to blush. "Why do you want to know?"

Tony looked up, finally meeting her gaze. "Because I think I'm… in love…"

Natasha nodded. Her questions could wait. If Tony Stark was admitting to being in love, maybe it would be better to just answer his question. "I didn't… not at first."

"Well, when did you figure it out?"

Natasha sighed and ran nimble fingers through her short hair. "I think it was around the same time that he nearly died for the 19th time after we'd become partners. That was the time that I  _didn't_  save him before he was fatally wounded. I fought off the rest of the bad guys, half carried/ half dragged him to the safe house, patched him up as best as I could, and waited 18 hours for evac as he slowly bled to death in front of me…"

"Holy shit."

"Yeah… it sucked. Even with my training, and being able to numb out most, if not all, emotions most of the time… it made me confront a bunch of things that I was too scared to think about before… like how he was the only person I felt comfortable with, ever. How I could trust him to have my back no matter what. And how much I needed him…"

Natasha fell silent, and both of them quietly became absorbed in their own thoughts. Tony sighed and Natasha looked up, brought back to the present. "Tony…" she started hesitantly, and he looked up out of his own thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Who, exactly, do you think you're in love with?"

Tony sighed again, "Aren't you the super spy? Shouldn't you already know?"

Natasha chuckled, "Yes, I should. But I also know that you should tell me yourself."

Tony smiled, "Yeah, I should." He chewed on the inside of his cheek and Natasha sat patiently, waiting for him to continue. "Well… I  _might_ believe that I'm  _probably_ in love with… Bruce…" he mumbled.

Natasha pushed down her inner smile of I-told-you-so-ness, and calmly asked, "And how do you know?"

Tony laughed, "Touché." He ran his fingers through his tousled hair again. "Since… I think since we worked together on the Hellicarrier. I mean, I already knew he was a genius, but that was when I realized he was brilliant. And how much he just needed somebody to trust him." He sighed again before continuing, "And after the battle, when I convinced him to come here, to stay at the Tower, I realized how much I wanted to be the person who helps him accept himself. Who helps him realize that maybe it's okay to be himself. That he doesn't always have to run and hide…"

Natasha smiled, "And have you told him any of this?"

Tony looked shocked, "Are you kidding?! How can I  _tell_  him? That would ruin our whole 'Science Bros' thing." He looked thoughtful and more than a little sad, "Also… I'm pretty almost positive that Brucey is straight…"

Natasha sighed, "Do you want my advice?"

Tony looked at her sarcastically, " _Noooo_ , that's  _not_  why I brought it up in the first place!" Natasha flashed him her most innocent, pure smile. Tony shivered. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Good. Well… with me and Clint… Neither one of us was willing to say anything in case it broke the fragile… bond we had. If it went wrong… we'd both lose the closest friend we'd had since… since ever. But, as it turned out, it didn't go wrong. It went absolutely right. We took the chance… and it was worth it. Sometimes… if it's real, true love, you have to be willing to take that first step. It might change everything, but it might just be worth it in the long run."

Tony studied Natasha's open and honest face. She was showing a side of herself that she only let Clint see on a regular basis. Once in a while, she would let her carefully constructed mask slip around her fellow Avengers, but these moments were few and far between. Tony nodded slowly, "Thanks Nat… I have a lot to think about now, don't I?"

Natasha simply smiled as she got up and left Tony by himself in the kitchen. She needed to find Clint and tell him she loved him. It'd been a while…


	2. Answers

Bruce was confused. Tony had been strategically avoiding him all week and he didn't get it. Of course, his first reaction was  _Tony finally realized that I'm a monster and is now trying to distance himself from me so that he doesn't get hurt_. And, even though he'd been telling Tony to do  **exactly**  that since they'd first met, it still stung. Tony had been the only person to trust him right from the start. Who hadn't shown fear. But now… now he left a room shortly after Bruce entered it. He started working in a different lab than Bruce, even though it was Tony in the first place who'd insisted that they share lab space. And- this was the one that struck Bruce the hardest- he'd stopped casually throwing his arm over Bruce's shoulder or grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the lab to do something crazy with him or even passing him tools- like he didn't want to touch Bruce anymore at all.

Bruce pushed his glasses up and rubbed his temples. He was tired. Of all of it. He ( _well, the Hulk)_  had fought alongside the good guys several times now, but still SHIELD treated him as a threat first. General Ross, who had only tried to take him once since the Battle of Manhattan (which ended in a Hulk-out that was semi-contained by the Tower) was still after him and had quite a large portion of the Army against him too. Even his fellow Avengers, his closest (and only) friends were still a little wary of him, always worried about whether something would set the Hulk off. Only Tony was never worried about the Hulk. Hell, Tony LIKED the Hulk- something Bruce could never quite wrap his mind around.

But now even Tony was keeping his distance. And, even though Bruce had been on a self imposed exile for YEARS after the 'incident,' and, even though it'd only been a couple weeks since Tony had started avoiding him, he was missing human contact. To Bruce's scientific, analytical mind, it was simple:  _Humans are primates. Primates need basic contact with other primates to live. Therefore, humans need contact with other humans to live. Take away the basic contact and that primate-human-whatever can't live._

It had taken a while for Bruce to come to this conclusion and he was more-than-a-little proud of himself for finally admitting it. But now he understood, given his new circumstances, he'd have to do what he always did, and run.

As he packed his bag that night  _(still only that one bag. That one beat up old bag he'd carried around for years)_ , his heart was heavy. As he went through his closet, he'd realized that all of the clothes, were ones that Tony had bought for him- or had Pepper or JARVIS buy for him. None of his original clothes remained. And, with that simple fact- that Tony had slowly been replacing his wardrobe and Bruce  **hadn't minded** \- Bruce realized WHY, exactly, it hurt so bad that Tony had- for lack of a better word- 'abandoned' him.

When you're in love with someone and they don't- could  **never-**  love you back, you break, a little, on the inside. Bruce broke a lot. He'd never been in love before. Well, there had been Betty, but… he could realize now, he had never actually been in LOVE with her. And now, here he was, his first love (which was kinda embarrassing considering how old he was) being his best friend and a MAN. Because, even though Bruce had never shown any particular interest in  **anyone**  before, he had always  **assumed**  that he was straight.

And Tony, well Tony was a famous playboy wasn't he? A different woman on his arm every night. His only committed relationship (which hadn't worked out in the long run) had been with Pepper. And, even though there had been rumors about Tony and the  **men**  he picked up, Bruce couldn't- wouldn't let himself- believe them. It was just wistful thinking…

Bruce had finally packed his bag and was quietly exiting his room, on his way to the elevator and out of the tower, when, in the darkened living space, a voice called out. "Are you running Brucey?"

Bruce froze. And Tony stepped up from the bar, casting the room into a soft blue glow. "I figured you would at the beginning… but now? I thought this- the Avengers- US- was going good…" Tony walked a little closer, putting Bruce into the light. He stood there for a second, just looking at Bruce before turning and flopping into the sofa.

"Ton-"

"Look, I'm not gonna stop you from leaving. You have your own free will. Do whatever you want… just… why? Why would you leave now?"

"Tony. I'm a threat to everyone here. And… and I think people would be safer if I'm gone. I should have left long ago." Bruce's voice was steady. Steadier than he felt on the inside at least.

"Would it make a difference if I… if…" Tony's voice was unsteady and Bruce could hear him take a long drink of something, probably alcoholic.

"If you… what?… Tony…?" Bruce took a few hesitant steps toward the couch..

Tony spun around to face Bruce, "Why now Bruce? Why? What's changed? Did somebody say something? Fury? Did  **Ross**  contact you? Because, I swear to God Bruce, you're safe here. He can't get to you here. You're safe now. Nobody here will sell you out. We trust yo-"

"Stop! Just stop, right now Tony. I'm not stupid. SHIELD doesn't trust me. The other Avengers don't trust me. And you… I've noticed, okay?! You've been avoiding me. And I get it, ok? I've been telling you to do that since the beginning and you've finally got it. So now I'm leaving. It's the best for everyo-"

Tony jumped up, faster than Bruce could see and shut him up… with his lips. "Shut. Up. Just shut up Bruce," Tony mumbled against his lips.

Bruce was frozen for a second as his mind caught up with him. His lips finally parted against Tony's, and he could feel Tony's lips quirk up in a smile. Tony pushed him back onto the couch so Tony was holding himself up over him. Bruce made a noise of frustration as Tony's lips left his.

"Hold on, Bruce. And I know, usually I'm the one avoiding 'relationship' talks… but in this case I think we need to have one." Bruce groaned, and Tony laughed.

"I love you Bruce. I'm… sorry… for avoiding you but I was… confused. Trying to figure myself out. Now, I'm absolutely certain. I don't want this to be a one night stand. I want… I want something serious. For once in my life, I want to do this right. How about you?"

"I love you too Tony. And yeah, I want this too. Not a one night stand. A relationship. But right now…" Bruce reached up, and pulled Tony's head back down to his own.

* * *

 

Natasha smiled as she walked into the kitchen a week later. Tony and Bruce were sitting next to each other, hands linked under the table. She walked over to Clint where he stood in front of the stove and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing a kiss into his neck. Clint smiled and passed her a cup of coffee. Natasha walked over to the table and sat on Tony's other side. She nudged his shoulder and smiled when he looked over. "Guess you found your answers, huh?" Tony just smirked and pulled his and Bruce's entwined hands on to the table. Bruce blushed, but smiled and left his hand there. Natasha sipped her coffee and smiled to herself out the window.


End file.
